The Half
by myyysharona
Summary: Gail Peck hated running. Everyone knew that, but she also loved Holly and loved being able to surprise the brunette after all this time. It had been nearly four years since they started dating and just coming up to a year and a half since they were married. But Holly made it all worth it.
1. The Surprise

"Just a few more weeks of this nonsense. Come on Peck, you got this. Almost done." Gail huffed to herself as she rounded the corner to their house. Holly had signed up for her fourth half marathon in half as many years and to surprise her, Gail had signed up without telling her so Gail was working at least one or two night shifts a week so she could do her longer runs during the day when Holly wasn't home to witness it happening.

Gail Peck hated running. Everyone knew that, but she also loved Holly and loved being able to surprise the brunette after all this time. It had been nearly four years since they started dating and just coming up to a year and a half since they were married. But Holly made it all worth it.

"Woo, 14 miles. Here's hoping that never happens again." She said as she made her way inside. Her stupid training plan had her run more than 13 miles before the race, maybe that was a good idea. No, running for no reason is never a good idea Gail thought as she shook her head to clear her mind of that blashpemy. By the time Holly was home, Gail was sitting in front of the tv relaxing before shift.

"Gail? How was your day?"

She could hear her wife's footsteps making their way into the kitchen as Holly got a glass of water as was her routine so she could hydrate before her workout. "Wha? You cooked?" The way Holly said it caused Gail to smile slightly and sweetly respond,

"Nope. That was my other wife. You weren't supposed to see that." As she went to give Holly a hug and a kiss goodbye, she was given a nice surprise when there were two arms suddenly wrapped around her waist. Gail knew this whole walk-through kitchen thing would get to her.

As she felt the brunette nuzzle into her neck she heard her whisper "Oh yeah? Well, you must not like her very much since you spend all your time with me." Gail just leaned back into her wrapping Holly's arms under her own and smirked. "Is that what you think?" With that she twirled them around so they were facing each other and could see the playful twinkling in each other's eyes knowing where this was going. But Gail was already going to be late for work so all she did was plant a lingering kiss along her wife's lips that held a promise for more later that night. On her way out she called over her shoulder, "Hope you don't mind that I ate some of it seeing as how it was for me." Holly's laughter followed her out the door on what she felt was going to be a good day.

"Ugh, Oliver. But it's running, to just run."

"I know partner. And you know what? You have only yourself to blame." There was that word again. Partner.

"I never get tired of hearing that. Can you believe that they let us be partners?" That was why Oliver had used that word, he loved how excited it made her and merely smiled at her as he ate another chip from the bag they were sharing.

"I really couldn't tell you." But he knew why. He had fought for it, ever since they first worked together he just knew that theirs was a dynamic that couldn't be recreated. "But you're avoiding the point now. Just think of the look on Holly's face when you guys are at the expo and you pick up your own packet. Not only that but. " He paused to swallow and point at Gail to emphasize his point, "but you get an okay time." Gail just smiled and they shared a moment with their chips. They were vegetable chips since it was Oliver's turn to bring them and Celery turned him healthy. Not that Holly wasn't trying the same, but they both had sweet tooths so it worked out in Gail's favor.

"I wish I could be there to see the look on her face when she realizes you've been running just to run." Just then their radio came to life and they were called to a crime scene. "Or maybe I'll just tell her when we see her."

"You wouldn't." Gail growled at him as they made their way over. "You were the only one I trusted with this information."

Several days later as Gail had finished up her last tapering run before the race and she was silently cursing herself for choosing this as a way to surprise Holly, her phone rang. "Hey. What are you up to right now?" She stopped in her tracks and looked around frantically trying to answer normally.

"Holly? Hey. I'm on my way back from grocery shopping," ugh, now she would have to go to the store but there was no other way to explain away the traffic in the background, "Did you want something?"

"Are you sure? My boss just said he saw you running. Like for fun. I told him he must have been mistaken but he's got a point. How many other pale, platinum blondes with bright pink running shoes can there be?" Holly's voice sounded a little suspicious.

"Um, a lot? You know how much I hate running." Deflect, deflect! After all of this time, she was so close.

"Gail...it's fine. You know, you can always go running with me." Holly sounded like she didn't believe a word Gail had said. It was too suspicious, she had met Holly's boss too many times for him to mistake someone else for her.

"I know. But you just run too fast. I was just trying it out. And nope, not gonna happen again." That should do it. Not a complete lie.

"Aw, but it's so relaxing. Maybe start out with a 5k? You've been to enough, why not actually participate in one? Hey, I gotta go. But since you're now going shopping, could you pick up some mangoes, strawberries, coconut water, and double fudge brownie ice cream? Thanks honey, bye!" Before Gail could say 'goodbye' Holly had hung up on her. She couldn't believe what just happened. Did Holly just make it sound like she had willingly volunteerd to do the shopping? Her phone pinged and Holly had messaged her the grocery list she just spouted off. Well, at least they could both still surprise each other.

"All right partner. Two more days. You ready?" Oliver was giddy with excitement. "When do you tell Holly?"

"Ugh, and then this self-inflicted torture can end. We're going to the expo around 11 and then grabbing some lunch before carbo loading over dinner. That just sounds gross." Gail could feel the nerves start to build. What if this didn't go over so well? She wouldn't be able to watch Holly cross the finish line.

"Yeah? I don't know. Eat a lot of pasta? Sounds great. It's been a while since I've just binged on carbs." Just then he made a weird gesture, in response Gail scrunched up her face and was about to tell him about her last run when she heard a familiar voice and felt arms wrap her shoulders in a hug and a kiss was pressed onto her cheek.

"Hey baby. I was visiting the detectives and thought I'd drop by." Gail almost froze up realizing how close they had come to spilling the beans. Just one more day and she would no longer have to make up excuses for all those workout clothes that were in the laundry.

"Was the courier sick?" She smirked as she spun her chair around to face Holly. In response she got one of her wife's signature grins and a sultry whisper in her ear, "Why don't we both leave early today and work out some of my nervous energy before tomorrow?"

"Mmm, I would. But you smell so much like dead people right now that it's overwhelming me. And…paperwork."

Holly just grinned wider as the blonde popped the 'k' and tapped her desk, "Officer Shaw, would you be so kind as to make sure Officer Peck here gets home on time tonight?"

"Uh, yeah Holly. No problem." As he saw Holly turning to go and Gail sighing with relief he couldn't help himself and called out, "Actually, I can take care of the paperwork. It's no big deal, enjoy your night Officer Peck." With a departing wink from Oliver, Gail slowly got up and went to change in the locker rooms signaling Holly to wait in the car for her.

"Good luck at the race this weekend. Oh, and before little miss sunshine over there forgets…Celery made you a potion for speed or something. Anyway, it's in the break room fridge," Oliver said as he pointed in the general direction of the room and stood to give Holly a good luck hug.

"Thanks, Ollie. I'll need it…well, the luck at least. Going for a personal best this time. Tell Celery 'thank you' for me."

* * *

"Wow, Hols. This is probably the biggest expo yet." Holly watched as Gail's eyes narrowed looking at the booths and not seeing anything that was blatantly for free yet, her favorite part.

"I'm going to go easy on the food samples this time, I think they've been messing with me the last couple of times." Holly couldn't figure out Gail's mood the closer they actually got to the expo. And why was Gail pouting? The food samples were her favorite part. "Hey, what's wrong? It's not like you can't eat your heart out on the tiny samples. Do multiple drive-bys."

"Hmmm…what? Oh yeah, they better be good this time. Let's go and get your number and t-shirt," and grumbled "and mine" as she took her wife's hand in hers and they walked over the 'P' section.

These volunteers looked way to cheerful to be handing out those numbers so people could run. For fun. They looked more cheery than the last time. "Last name and ID?"

"Peck."

"We have two here. Gail?" Holly's jaw dropped as she looked at the woman standing next to her handing her ID over to the volunteer.

"That's me. She's Holly. Holly. Give the nice lady your ID," Gail practically had to hand the ID over herself.

"T-shirt pick-up is over there, you'll get your bag there with the safety pins as well." The volunteer smiled at them and pointed them over to where a giant sign read "T-SHIRT PICK-UP".

After they got out of line and were making their way over, Holly suddenly grabbed Gail's arm and pulled them out of the way of foot traffic. "You signed up for this? When did you do you that? Did you even train? You know this is running? It's all coming together now, my boss seeing you run, your sudden interest in stretching. All those new workout clothes." Holly was shocked, and rambling. Nothing a good kiss on the lips couldn't stop though.

"Yes. About a month after you, I've been training since I signed up. All those night shifts? I volunteered for them so I could run while you were at work." There was a pause as a look passed between them. "Surprise? I won't be at the finish line waiting for you since you know, I'll probably be way behind you as you go get your PR but I figured I'd give it a try since it clearly means so much to you."

Gail was rewarded with a kiss, and her wife's signature grin. "This is an amazing surprise. Maybe next time we can train together." This time it was Gail's jaw that dropped.


	2. The Morning-Of

A/N: It's been so long since I've written anything creative, so it's going to be rough going for a little bit.

* * *

"Ugh. Holly, the sun isn't even up yet." grumbled a Gail who was regretting her decision to run 13.1 miles. Who decided to start this early anyways?

"It should be up by the time the race starts. Runners need to get there earlier to get in their corrals." Holly sat down on the bed next to her wife who had actually gotten up dressed, put her shoes on, and then proceeded to flop face-down sprawled out across the bed. "Hey. I don't think I asked, but which corral are you in? I'm in A."

"What does that even mean? How would I find that out now? Oh man. I guess I can't run since I don't even know where to go."

"It's on your race bib. In the corner….if you opened your eyes you would see that I'm showing you." She was pointing out the letter in the upper left hand corner of her own bib, silently laughing at this goof who found interesting ways of showing her how much she loves her. The latest of which was by signing up for a race knowing full-well how much the blonde disliked running.

"mmmf mm fmm. hmm…"

"Come on. We went over this last night - "

"It still is practically last night." Her wife interrupted her as she rolled over. "I thought we just established that the sun isn't even out yet. Are there even any rays peeking over the horizon?" She opened one eye to look at the smiling, way too perky brunette sitting next to her on the bed.

Holly's laughter filled the room and sent a small smile to the morning grump's lips. "Well, if you got up again you could check for yourself on our way to the start," she laughed as she tugged at the blonde's wrist to try to get her up.

"Ugh. Do you know how much I love you? Of course you do. I'm doing this for you, nerd." But she got up, however reluctantly and shuffled her way to the door, grabbing her pre-run snack and a bottle of water before leaning against the door while waiting for Holly so they could leave. "I thought you said we had to leave soon? Now I'm waiting for you." She leaned her head against the door and closed her eyes trying not to fall asleep while standing up when she felt a familiar set of lips pressed against her own. "Mmm, we could also just skip the race altogether and do a different kind of marathon."

"You would like that wouldn't you? But we both trained," *kiss* "we got up," *kiss* "paid for it" *kiss* "and we're going to kick this half marathon's ass." And with a pull and tug they were out the door and on their way to the car to go running. For no other reason than to run. Why did she think was such a good idea again?

"You know, I'm in a state of disbelief that you not only signed up and trained for this, but you kept it a secret from me this whole time." Holly was way too awake for that hour of the morning and Gail was having a hard time keeping up with her. Prior to this train of thought it was her strategy for achieving her PR and then something about pace groups and plans for the holidays. At the next stop, Holly looked over at Gail and with sincerity written all over her face she turned and said, "This was a really nice surprise though."

"Well, you know. I'm glad someone in this car thinks it's a nice surprise." She mumbled back. The brunette couldn't help but smile at the sarcastic response she received from the blonde whose seat was reclined and eyes were shut. They continued the rest of the drive in a comfortable silence both lost in their thoughts and enjoying each other's company in the time where it's not quite night but not quite morning. "Hols. Why are we stopped? Don't tell me we're there already," as one blue eye opened to glare at the now laughing brunette. "Ugh, fine. I brought this on myself. Let's go." Before she could completely get up, Gail felt Holly's lips on hers.

"Babe? Thanks. I love you."

"Yeah, yeah. I love you too. Even if your hobbies do involve sweating..." and a playful smile spread on her face "...well I guess not of all them are bad."

"We can do that later. But, first things first. Let's run!" And Holly pulled away laughing to get out of the car.

"Tease." But she did get out and they followed the other runners, some still half asleep, some jogging, and others stretching. Feeling suddenly overwhelmed at actually being there, Gail's hand found Holly's and they walked hand in hand to the bag check and scouted out a meeting location in case they lost each other after Gail crossed the finish line.

"Holly! Hey!" A voice familiar to Holly but only vaguely so to Gail called out.

"Jay? I didn't know you were running this one." They exchanged a quick hug much to Gail's surprise, but she figured she shouldn't have since her wife was a hugger.

"I think you guys have met before. Jay, this is my wife Gail. Gail, Jay is part of that running club I've been going to once a week at the track. He's got an amazing kick. And is wicked fast." Gail looked him up and down as she took the proffered hand and shook it. He sure didn't look fast, but these runner types did tend towards the skinnier figures.

"Once before, you picked up speedy over here from the track a few weeks back. I didn't know you ran as well. We'd love to have you join us, the more the merrier." He was just as outgoing as Holly and probably just as enthusiastic about sporting.

"Yeah...I'm not much of a runner...only seldom." Gail tried her best at a smile, but it turned out more of a grimace because of the subject matter and this guy really was so very awake.

"Well, we all have to start out somewhere. Neither was I but the more you run, the more enjoyable it becomes. All it takes is one race before most people catch the running bug. Isn't that right Holly?" Gail just rolled her eyes and glared at this guy, Jay.

"That's what they say. Though something tells me that might not happen in this one's case," Holly replied in a faux whisper as she pointed towards the glaring blonde which elicited a laugh from Jay.

"Okay then. So, how did Holly get you sign up for this race then? I know some other folks whose husbands and wives signed for up at least one race after many years of hassling." Gail wanted to wipe that stupid grin off of this guy's face.

"Nope. It was a surprise." Why was she telling him this? Oh yeah, because Holly was right there.

"I actually had no idea she signed up for it until yesterday. Apparently she trained in secret as well." Holly gave Gail a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh wow. That's actually really awesome. Hey, good luck on getting your time. Sub-1:30. You think you're going to get it?"

"Hopefully. My training has been going well and I think the track nights really helped out a lot. I'm going to run with the pace group and see if I can pick it up in the last 5k. Good luck to you too. We gotta get going, you know how the bathroom lines can get." With a last hug, and nice to meet you's they were finally making their way to the long line of porta-potties where there was just a mass of people in what looked like loosely formed lines but were actually pretty organized if you looked closer. Gail just groaned, stopped at the first one and resigned herself to waiting in a ridiculously long line.

"What are you doing? Come on," Holly was still walking and pulled the still grumpy blonde through the throngs of people waiting to relieve themselves before this disgustingly long athletic venture towards the lines further down and which appeared to be getting shorter. Much shorter.

"Now, we can wait. See? Much better." Holly grinned at Gail.

"You've done this before haven't you?" Gail said as she narrowed her eyes at the smug brunette.

"What gave you that impression?"

"Oh, nothing." She wasn't about to admit that it was indeed much better than her previous choice, but she also had no experience with this kind of thing. "How long did it take you to figure that one out?"

"Three times. I always noticed the shorter line when I was walking towards the start, but didn't actually start getting in those lines until the third one because I always forgot. Ha, but either way we'll have plenty of time." They slowly inched forward and as they got closer Gail noticed that there were more bathrooms than lines and, upon figuring out the system leaned over to Holly and stated, "Wow. These really are your people. So nice. Even when it comes to their bladder." Holly just shrugged and gave her that innocent look that said whatever do you mean? "Don't give me that nerd. I mean really? There's a bathroom system? I'm guessing this is standard."

"Maybe. It's better than having a whole mess of lines."

Gail snorted. "You don't call this a mess of lines? I'm fairly certain those two lines are sharing that one. Looks like there's a breakdown in the system. Now what? Oh wait, they're taking turns. Really?"

"It happens. Relax, you're going to need all the energy you can muster today. You go first I'll wait for the next one."

"How am I supposed to see in there? It's dark out. There are no lights in there." She looked at Holly all seriously.

"Those will provide enough ambient light for you to see." She pointed at the streetlights and the flood lights brought in by the race.

"Seriously? Not only do I have to use a porta-john which likely smells worse than an airplane bathroom, but I have to pee by the ambient light. AKA use the shadows. Ugh, this idea is getting worse and worse. Fine."

After Gail walked away the woman behind them jokingly said to Holly, "Not really one for this kind of thing, is she?"

"That noticeable, huh? No, but I can't really complain she signed up as a surprise for me." She flashed her a smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"Guess not. That's pretty sweet, can she get my husband to sign up too? Haha. Oh, you're up." She pointed at one of the porta-potties that someone just exited.

It was about a seven-minute walk to the starting corrals from where they were and along the way, Gail stopped to gawk. "Holly. Do you see that? I should go over and arrest them all. Public indecency."

"What?" Holly tried to see what had Gail's attention. It didn't take long to see. "Oh, yeah. I've seen that before...Can you really blame them? Did you see the size of those lines, plus the lines are long enough without all of them to add to it."

"But, they're you know...just because they're guys and can do that doesn't mean they can all just line up along the bushes and. Well, you know. Oh no."

"What now?" This was slightly amusing Holly. She had rarely seen the blonde get so worked up about something, but she knew it was because she was trying to distract herself from the reason they were actually there. And actually seeing her be a little shy about this was kind of cute.

"People are taking pictures. Look! Wow, your people are so weird. No shame." She just shook her back and forth muttering to herself about the type of person she had married. Holly linked their arms and patted her shoulder to convey to her wife that it was all going to be okay and tugged her along, "Well. I really appreciate that you did this for me. It'll be worth your while later." And the brunette flashed the blonde a wicked grin. "Here we are. Corral G. Good luck honey, and remember to pace yourself. I'll be at the end, cheering for you."

"Wait. That's it? You're going to leave me?" She pouted into the kiss that Holly had placed on her lips. "Fine, I'll see you later. 2:10. If I don't come in by then send out a search party. Or just call me. I might take a cab home or something."

"Uh huh. Just you wait and see what happens, or doesn't happen later. I'll be waiting. Mwah!" She sent her an over-the-top air kiss, waving her hand as she walked away towards her starting location.

Gail watched her go, seeing her shoulders shake in laughter and found a place to sit and waited for this unbelievably bad idea to get under way. She muttered to herself a little more. "Sign up for a half marathon. It'll be the perfect eay to surprise the wifey. Great. I must've hit my head that day."


End file.
